Mountain Tae Kwon Do School - Southeast Asian Arts

Cambodia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. all have similar styles of martial arts resembling kung fu. The Thai art of "kick boxing" for example, is very similar except that the practitioner wears protective gloves. Apparently kung fu had some effect on the development of this sport, but there is nothing to document its specific influence.

Strong evidence exists to support the belief that both China and India gave Indonesia its earliest exposures to organized systems of unarmed combat. Since Chinese, Arab, Malay, and Filipino pirates periodically attacked the Indonesian people, such training was of utmost importance for protection.

Eventually, many styles of martial arts evolved in Indonesia. All forms were localized, mainly in the villages, and were considered the property of that village. Only rarely were they taught to an outsider.